It was announced today that All Saints' Church, Winterton, North Lincolnshire has received a confirmed grant of £748,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the 'All Saints: The Story It Tells of Winterton' project. This project aims to ensure that the medieval church can act as a centre for revealing the rich heritage story of Winterton by creating spaces for heritage display, interpretation and study. At the same time it will ensure a large flexible space in the church for community use. The main capital works phase is planned to start early next year and should be completed by December 2014.

The project will conserve the exceptionally rich and diverse heritage in All Saints’ Church in order to tell the story of Winterton to an increasing range of audiences. The Grade I listed building, which dominates the central townscape, will be safeguarded for future generations, as will its extensive and often unusual, artefacts and archives. Learning will be greatly enhanced by the creation of dedicated heritage spaces. These will house artefacts and archives from the community as well as the church. The medieval doors, west gallery instruments, the archives and other artefacts will be conserved and displayed and current developments will be recorded for future generations. The church will also be made accessible to all by levelling the floor, and significant conservation works to both the fabric and contents, including roof repairs will be undertaken to safeguard the fabric against further decay. A new kitchen and toilets are also planned, linked to the existing building through the north porch. The church will be able to host a much wider range of community events and there will be many opportunities for people to get involved in learning about Winterton's past and participating in these developments to keep All Saints alive as a focus for the community. The well-used building has always been a focal point for the community and currently hosts a range of concerts, coffee mornings and activities as well as the usual church services. The beautiful building, the oldest part of which dates from before 1100, was largely completed by 1300. It has a well preserved 'Lincolnshire Tower' from around 1100, early 13th century ironwork on the later medieval main door and many other unusual details. It survived the English Civil War, was witness to the 17th century Winterton Riots, the typhoid epidemic in the 1860s and so much more. Robin Shawyer, Chair of the All Saints Forward group, which consists of both church and wider community members and which has developed this project over the last four years, said: “This is wonderful news since we know that competition for Heritage Lottery Fund grants is very intense. I am delighted that the hard work of the group has been rewarded. The Heritage Lottery Fund has clearly recognised the value and potential of our project. It is very good news for our community in Winterton since All Saints will now continue to play a key role in our town.”